Sam Raimi Returns to Horror…With a Chevy Malibu Ad

Sam Raimi hasn’t made a new horror film since 2009's Drag Me to Hell, his arguably underrated, super-gross gypsy curse flick. Aside from producing the Ash vs. Evil Dead series for Starz (and directing one episode), Raimi has remained focused on other, non-horror projects, like his Spider-Man trilogy, Oz the Great and Powerful, and his upcoming remake of French drama A Prophet. Fans of the Evil Dead mastermind may be interested in this video, then, which is the closest we’re likely to get to a new, original Raimi horror film…kind of.

Raimi directed a new ad for the 2016 Chevy Malibu (via Slashfilm), which features a young woman walking through a haunted house, edging closer and closer to a mysterious door. She’s interrupted by a familiar sound: Voices of audience members watching the “film,” yelling at her to turn away from the door. “What are you doing?! Don’t go in there!” The twist here is that she can actually hear them, and unlike most horror protagonists, she heeds their advice.

It’s definitely the product of Raimi, from the spooky special effects to the jittery zooms, though he’s a bit restrained with those famous dutch angles. While it’s not exactly a new Sam Raimi horror film, we’ll take what we can get.

And again, it’s not the only new Raimi horror project — he’s been serving as executive producer on Ash vs. Evil Dead, and he directed the first episode, which debuted last Halloween on Starz. There’s also Ghost House Pictures, Raimi’s production company that’s behind horror flicks like the Poltergeist remake, 30 Days of Night, and The Grudge.